Seam pressing machine



y 9, 1940- A. c. SMITH SEAM PRESSING MACHINE Filed June 17, 1939 1g? 4. fivmvma: 45m

Patented July 9, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

SEAM PRES SING MACHINE Jersey Application June 17, 1939, Serial No. 279,699

9 Claims.

This invention relates to methods of and machines for pressing seams and is herein exemplified with reference to the pressing of back seams in shoe manufacture.

A seam called the back seam is formed between the quarters of a shoe upper at the rear part thereof and to insure against the formation of a visible hump in the outside of the back seam area of the upper after it is lasted it is desirable to reduce the height of this scam as much as possible without impairing its strength.

Heretofore it has been common to reduce the height of such seam ridges by presenting the work piece having a seam to be pressed to a machine having a support and a pressing member arranged to apply pressure to the top of the seam passed between them. The effectiveness of this operation is impaired by a tendency for the seam to be displaced more to one side than the other or wholly to one side. Although guiding means are usually provided in machines of this type to guide and direct the seam up to the pressing member, such guiding means are ineffective to prevent the undesirable lateral displacement of 25 the seam ridge referred to above because the seam will have moved out of the control of the guide even before its reduction is begun. Thus, as the seam ridge passes between the support and presser, it is frequently tipped over to one side or the other from the lack of any support along its sides, causing an accumulation of material which can not be reduced heightwise to any such extent as is possible when the seam is spread equally and uniformly at each side. Moreover, in an attempt to flatten such seams adequately, the pressure applied to the seam ridge is frequently so great as to cause yawning of the back seam and the rupture of the stitching.

The object of the present invention is there- 40 fore to obviate the above difficulties and to provide improved methods of and machines for reducing back seams by the use of which the seam ridge is controlled laterally against uneven excessive spreading to one side or the other throughout the period during which its height wise reduction takes place.

In one aspect, the invention provides an improved seam pressing machine having a work support and a pressing member, the work engaging surface of which, in accordance with a feature of the invention, comprises a seam reducing portion which converges toward the work support so as to apply progressively increasing pressure to the seam ridge heightwise thereof and guide walls adapted. to engage thesides of the seam ridge, the walls and the reducing portion of the pressing member forming a groove arranged to receive the seam ridge and to confine it against tipping more to one side than the other throughout its passage beneath the converging portion of the pressing member during the reducing operation. Invention is also to be recog nized in the provision of an ironing portion in a pressing member as described above, the ironing portion being concentric with the work support and being arranged to engage the top of the reduced seam as it emerges from the reducing portion whereby the seam without being confined laterally is further pressed under a uniform pressure to impart a permanent set thereto.

There is a practical limit to the heightwise reduction of the seam ridge, by the application of pressure to the top of the same while the sides of the seam are confined to. prevent any spreading, beyond. which, to secure further heightwise reduction, the seam ridge is permitted to spread uniformly at each side as its maximum reduction takes place. To this end, and in accordance with another feature of the invention, the walls of the seam receiving groove are flared away from each other adjacent the inner end of the groove to permit the seam ridge to spread gradually and equally at each side thereof whereby the maximum heightwise reduction of the seam ridge is obtained without any danger of its being displaced more to one side than the other.

A further feature of the invention consists in the provision of an adjustable block constituting one of the walls of the seam receiving groove,

the block being movable relatively to the other wall so that by a simple adjustment of the block the width of the groove may be varied to correspond to the thickness of the seam. I

In another aspect, the invention also provides novel methods of pressing seams characterized by the simultaneous heightwise reduction and lateral control of the seam referred to above in connection with the illustrated machine.

The nature and construction of an illustrative machine embodying the invention will now be' described in detail, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a sectional side elevation of the machine;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the press- 60 Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the adjustable element of the pressing member;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the pressing member illustrating the longitudinal shape of its seam receiving groove;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section on the line VI--VI in Fig. 2 illustrating the guiding of the seam before it is pressed;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the pressing member and work support illustrating the spreading of the seam at the flared portion of the seam receiving groove; and

Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional View of the pressing member and work support illustrating the final ironing of the seam ridge.

Referring to Fig. 1, the machine comprises essentially a work support ID, a pressing member [2, and a frame l4 upon which the support and pressing member are mounted.

The frame 14 of the machine is a hollow casting having a horizontal base l6 and an overhanging head M. A pedestal I9 is formed integral with the base at the free end thereof upon which the work support H3 is mounted for rotation on a driven shaft journaled in the walls of the pedestal. The driving means for rotating the work support is housed in the base of the frame and. since it forms no part of the present invention it will not be referred to further. The head I8 is provided with a hanger 20 slidably mounted thereon to support the pressing member I2 above the work support It in proper cooperative relation therewith.

The work support 10 has been devised to make the machine substantially self feeding. To this end the work support is made in the form of a disk having a knurled cylindrical surface 24, the curvature of which is approximately the same as the longitudinal curvature of the back seam of a shoe upper. Thus, a back seam when placed on the work support will closely fit over its periphery so that a positive nonslip feed is insured. Furthermore, since the curvature of the seam is not distorted, as it would be if the support were a flat surface, there will be no buckling or wrinkling as pressure is applied to the seam which is conducive to a uniform reduction of the seam.

The pressing member i2 is provided with a concave surface 26 adjacent to and concentric with the surface 24 of the work support, this surface having reducing and ironing portions 28 and 30 arranged to operate successivelyon the seam ridge, the reducing portion being adapted to guide the seam to reduce the height of the same to a minimum, and the ironing portion being adapted to impart a permanent set to the reduced seam.

The reducing portion 28 of the pressing member is provided with a groove 32 having side walls 34 and 36 and a bottom 38 arranged to receive and hold the seam ridge upright, the bottom of the groove constituting a reducing surface which converges toward the work support it so that as the seam ridge passes through the groove it is subjected to progressively increasing heightwise pressure. The side walls 34 and 36 of the groove are parallel at the entrance thereof for guiding and supporting the seam ridge laterally as its height is reduced, the wall 36 of the groove being formed by a block 4!! adjustable laterally of the pressing member to permit the width of the groove 32 to be .adjusted to accommodate the work. Since the seam cannot spread during the initial stage of reduction in its height there is an actual condensation of the leather in the seam, the

leather becoming more dense as the pressure increases. There is, however, a practical limit to the amount of heightwise condensation of the seam ridge within the confines of the groove beyond which to secure further heightwise reduction the seam must be permitted to spread uniformly at each side as its maximum reduction takes place. To this end, and to prevent overcrowding and consequent binding, the walls of the groove are flared at 42 and 44 as they approach the junction of the reducing and ironing surfaces and filets 46 are provided in the corner between the bottom of the groove and the walls to permit the seam to spread laterally on each side thereof and to cause the formation of filets at the base thereof so as to effect a complete condensation of the seam ridge.

In the illustrated machine the provision for adjustment of the wall 36 is effected as follows. The right-hand forward half of the pressing member I2 is cut away to form a stepped recess opposite the support, one level 38 of which converges toward the support and merges with the surface 26 at substantially its midpoint. This level 38 of the recess forms the bottom of a seam receiving groove 32, one side of which is constituted by a vertical wall 34,. the other side of the groove being formed by a block 46, having an edge face 36, which is mounted on the presser for adjustment laterally thereof so that the width of the groove 32 may be varied in accordance with the thickness of the seam ridge to be operated upon. The block 48 is provided with a projection 48 which is tapered longitudinally so as to underlie the level 38 of the presser, the bottom surface of the block conforming in curvature to and constituting a part of the surface 26. The exposed edge face 36 of the extension constitutes the aforesaid side wall which, together with the wall 34, define the sides of the groove 32. The pressing member [2 is recessed above the level 38 concentrically with the surface 26 as at 50 to receive the upper surface of the block 40. The lateral adjustment of the block is effected by turning a screw 52 which is rotatably mounted in the block 40 and threaded into the presser, the block being held in adjusted position by another screw 54 which is adapted to pass through and clamp firmly against the presser a bracket 56 extending upwardly from the block.

It will now be observed that a seam ridge, upon being presented to the pressing member, is confined against lateral expansion and held in an upright position between the walls 34 and 36 as it passes through the forward portion of the groove where the above-mentioned walls are substantially parallel to each other as illustrated in Fig. 5. While the sides of the seam ridge are thus confined, the top of the seam ridge is subjected to progressively increasing pressure owing to the convergence of the surface 38 toward the work support I0. This compression of the seam ridge imparts as great a reduction in height as is practicable without allowing the seam to spread. However, a further reduction in the height of the seam is effected as it passes through the inner end of the groove 32 as a result of allowing the seam ridge to spread substantially in response to the heightwise pressure imparted to it.

To this.end, as illustrated in Fig. 5, the rear portions of the walls 34 and 36 are uniformly flared away from each other at 42 and 44' to permit both sides of the seam ridge to spread laterally at an equal rate in response to the compressive action of the presser I2. Thus, as the seam ridge emerges from the groove 32 its height isfurther reduced and while in-this condition the seam ridge is permanently set by being fed past the remainder of the surface 26-of the pressing member.

In order to facilitate the introduction of the work into the machine the forward end of the groove 32 is widened slightly by providing rounded corners 58 at the outer ends of the walls 34 and 36 so that the end of the seam ridge will be guided into the groove. Similarly the depth of the forward end of the groove 32 is such that the top of the seam ridge will not be engaged by the presser until the work has reached a point 59 inwardly from the front end of the groove so that the seam ridge is advanced far enoughinto the groove to insure proper guidance before the pressing begins.

The ironing portion 30 of the pressing member has the same radius of curvature as the reducing portion 28 and in reality forms a continuation of the portions of the latter at each side of the groove 32. Since the bottom 38 of the groove 32 merges into this surface 30, the seam ridge as it emerges from the groove 32 is maintained under the maximum pressure throughout the remainder of its passage through the machine.

While it is not uncommon to press seam ridges by the use of an unheated pressing member, it is found that if the pressing member is heated the permanency of the reduced condition of the seam ridge is increased perceptibly due to the fact that the oils and chemicals used in the tanning of the leather come to the surface under the influence of the pressure and heat and produce a smooth glazed surface. A heating element 60 is thereforev incorporated in the pressing member with suitable control means for varying the temperature for difierent kinds of leather.

In order toavoid the necessity for backing the finished work out of the machine, as well as to adapt the machine for operating upon work of any thickness, the pressing member in the present instance, as previously indicated, is secured to the lower end of a hanger 20, said hanger 20 being adapted to slide vertically in a bore 62 formed in the end-of the overhanging arm [8.

The pressing member I2 is urged downwardly toward the support In to press the work thereagainst by a spring 54 mounted inside of the hanger 28, the lower end of the spring abutting the hanger and the upper end of the spring abutting a sleeve 65 which is threaded in a cap 68 fixed to the top of the arm l8. Adjustment of the clearance between the pressing member l2 and the work support EU as well as of the compression of the spring 64 is efiected by the vertical adjustment of the sleeve 66 in the cap and the adjustment of a nut '10 on a threaded rod 72, the lower end of which is fixed to the hanger 20, the nut 16 thus being adapted to engage the top of the sleeve 66 to determine the minimum clearance between the pressing member and the work support when no work is on the machine. It will be understood that this clearance is such as to permit the work piece to be freely inserted between the forward end of the pressing member and the work support. The compression of the spring 64 is controlled so that the pressing member imparts the required pressure to theseam ridge by adjusting the nut Hi relatively to the rod 12, any change in the height of the pressing member [2 resulting from the adjustment of the spring compression being compensated for by a corresponding heightwise adjustment -of .the sleeve 66. I

The hanger and pressing member, while supported by the rod I2 and normally urged toward the work support by the spring 64, may be moved in the opposite direction against the spring by a crank and rack means. To this end a footoperated treadle (not shown) is provided which, through the linkage shown, moves an arm 14 against an arm 16 of the bell-crank lever 18 so as to rotate it clockwise about its pivot point 80. The other arm 82 of the bell crank has a gear segment 84 formed therein and extends through an opening 86 in the wall of the bore 62 where the gear segment 84 meshes with a rack 88 cut in the wall of the hanger.

Prior to the introduction of the work W tothe machine, the sleeve 66 and nut 10 are adjusted to provide the requisite clearance between the pressing member and work support to insert the work and sufficient compression in the spring to block heated, the work is placed on the surface 24 of the work support, the seam ridge R being uppermost as shown in Fig. 2, the end of the seam ridge being directed into the mouth of the groove 32 which has previously been adjusted in width to correspond substantially to the width of the unpressed seam ridge. This latter adjustment is made by loosening the clamp screw 54 and turning the adjusting screw 52 in or out to narrow or widen the groove as the case may be. The work W is pushed forward by the operator until the rotating knurled work support picks it up and. carries it forward beneath the pressing member. The seam ridge is supported at first along its side walls by the walls 3 and 36 of the groove 32 and is subjected to a gradually increased pressure along thetop edge by the bottom 38 of the groove which converges toward the work support. As the seam approaches the inner end of the groove where the walls of the groove flare at 42 and 44 and the groove merges into the ironing surface of the pressing member, it is permitted to spread equally in response to the heightwise pressure at each side of the seam so as to attain a maximum reduction of the seam ridge. The extent of the reduction of the seam ridge is illustrated in Fig. 8.

While the initial condensing action is being performed on one section of the seam ridge by the reducing surface of the pressing member, a succeeding portion of the ridge receives the final ironing and setting action. in passing between the ironing surface 30 of the pressing member and the work support whereby a permanent set is imparted to the ridge with a single passage of the work through the machine.

If flat work is being operated upon, the completed work is merely removed from the back side of the worksupport free of the support and the pressing member. However, as. previously indicated, if the work is of the closed type and cannot be removed without passing it in a reverse direction through the machine, a foot treadle (not shown) is depressed whereby the bell-crank lever 78 is rotated in a clockwise direction about its pivot 80 to raise the hanger 2t and consequently the pressing member substantially above the work support. The work may then be readily removedfrom the machine without undergoing further pressing and heating.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a seam pressing machine, the combination of a rotatable work support and a pressing member having cooperating work engaging surfaces adapted to press the ridge of a seamed work piece disposed therebetween, said member having a reducing surface converging toward the work support and an ironing surface concentric with the work support, and guide Walls associated with said reducing surface, said walls and reducing surface defining a tapering groove in which the seam ridge is supported laterally as it is reduced heightwise.

2. In a seam pressing machine, the combination of a rotatable work support and a pressing member having cooperating work engaging surfaces adapted to press the ridge of a seamed work piece disposed therebetween, said member having a reducing surface converging toward the work support to subject the top of the seam ridge to progressively increasing pressure heightwise and an ironing surface concentric with the work sup-. port, and guide Walls associated with said converging surface, said walls and reducing surface defining a tapering groove in which the seam ridge is supported laterally as it is reduced heightwise, one of said walls being movable laterally with respect to the other.

3. In a seam pressing machine, the combination of a rotatable work support and a pressing member having cooperating work engaging surfaces adapted to press the ridge of a seamed work piece disposed therebetween, said member having a reducing surface converging toward the work support and an ironing surface concentric with the work support, and guide walls associated with said converging surface, said walls and reducing surface defining a tapering groove in which the seam ridge is supported laterally as it is reduced heightwise, said walls being flared as they approach the junction of the reducing and ironing surfaces to permit the seam to spread laterally.

4. In a seam pressing machine, the combination of a rotatable Work support and a pressing member having cooperating work engaging surfaces adapted to press the ridge of a seamed work piece disposed therebetween, said member having a reducing surface converging toward the work support and an ironing surface concentric with the work support, and guide walls associated with said reducing surface to form a seam receiving groove, said walls being parallel at the entrance of the groove for supporting the seam ridge laterally as its height is reduced and flared at the end thereof to permit the ridge to spread laterally to effect complete reduction as it approaches the junction of the reducing and ironing surfaces, one of said Walls being movable laterally with respect to the other to permit the width of the groove to be varied in accordance with the thickness of the seam ridge.

5. In a seam pressing machine, the combination of a rotatable work support and a pressing member having cooperating work engaging surfaces, the forward part of the member being cut away at one side to form a recess adapted to receive a seam ridge and having a wall adapted to support one side of the seam ridge, one level of said recess converging toward and cooperating with the work support to apply progressively increasing pressure to the seam ridge heightwise thereof and being arranged to merge with the surface of the member at substantially its midpoint, a block mounted on said member opposite to said wall whereby the seam ridge is confined against lateral expansion as it is reduced heightwise, said block being adjustable laterally in accordance with the width of the seam ridge.

6. In a seam pressing machine, the combination of a rotatable work support and a pressing member having cooperating work engaging surfaces, the forward part of the member being cut away at one side to form a recess adapted to receive a seam ridge and having a wall adapted to support one side of the seam ridge, one level of said recess converging toward and cooperating with the work support to apply progressively increasing pressure to the seam ridge heightwise thereof and being arranged to merge with the surface of the member at substantially its mid-. point, a block mounted on said member opposite to said wall to form a seam receiving groove, the walls of the groove being parallel at the entrance thereof for supporting the seam ridge laterally as its height is reduced and being flared at the end thereof to permit the seam ridge to spread laterally as it approaches the end of the groove, and means for moving the block laterally so as to vary the width of the groove.

7. In a seam pressing machine, the combination of a rotatable work support and a pressing member having cooperating work engaging surfaces, said member being cut away at one side to form a stepped recess adapted to receive a seam ridge and having a wall adapted to support one side of the seam ridge, one level of said recess converging toward and cooperating with the work support to apply progressively increasing pressure to the seam ridge heightwise thereof and being arranged to merge with the surface of the member at a point intermediate its ends, and a block mounted on the member having an edge surface parallel to said wall and an exposed surface, the surface of said block adjacent to said work support conforming in curvature to and constituting a part of the work engaging surface of the member.

8. A method for reducing the height of a seam ridge having side walls and a top which comprises the steps of confining the walls against lateral displacement, subjecting the top of the confined portion of the seam to progressively increasing pressure to effect a condensation of the ridge heightwise, and finally releasing the side walls and subjecting the top of the seam ridge to constant heightwise pressure to effect a permanent set.

9. A method for reducing the height of a seam ridge having side walls and a top which comprises as steps confining the walls against lateral displacement, subjecting the top of the confined portion of the seam to progressively increasing pressure to effect a partial condensation of the ridge heightwise, permitting a limited equal lateral spreading on each side of the seam while increasing the pressure to cause the formation of filets at the base thereof so as to effect a complete condensation of the ridge, and finally releasing the side Walls and subjecting the top of the seam ridge to constant heightwise pressure to effect a permanent set.

ARCI-IIBALD c. SMITH. 

